Smile
by Black Pichu
Summary: Wiping away the last of his tears, he smiled slightly at her odd behavior. The girl jabbed a finger at him. "There you go! A smile! Now, keep it that way."


**Disclaimer: I do not own and part of the Pokemon franchise and never will. This is a story I wrote just for fun because I'm a fan of Pokemon.**

**Also, part of this story was inspired by a scene from the first episode of Fractale. I don't own that, either.**

**A/N: So, it's been a long time since I've updated with anything. XD Being a junior in high school basically means you can't have any time to do the things you enjoy...**

**The writing for this might not be the best; I kind of rushed because it really bothered me how I hadn't updated in so long.**

**I know the whole plotline of this is basically an overused concept. Well, I really don't care. I always imagined Khoury and Lyra meeting this way, and I like it that way~**

**Well, I hope you enjoy the story! :)**

* * *

**Smile**

"Where do you think you're going, squirt?"

Khoury's dark brown eyes slowly traveled upward to look at the three older boys towering over him. Their glowering faces sent chills down his spine; he gulped, averting his eyes back down to the bundle of books and papers in his arms. "I-I was just..."

As he had usually done during recess, he was heading to one of the picnic tables that lined the playground of the New Bark Town Trainer's School to read and make some progress on the day's homework. He had only attended the school for about three weeks, so he wasn't familiar with his classmates and avoided interaction with them. However, confrontations such as this were beginning to become a regular thing.

"You were just... _what_?" the older boy demanded, making the five-year-old jump.

Eyes flickering all around―everywhere except for the boys' faces―Khoury began shuddering, clutching his belongings closer to his chest. "I-I was going to―"

"He's probably going to go sit by himself and read again," one of the other boys completed for him. "Like he _always_ does."

The first boy snickered. "How come you don't play with the other kindergarteners, like a _normal_ kid?"

"I'm... not..."

With another laugh, the first boy slapped Khoury's books from his grasp. The younger boy gasped as his papers fluttered to the dirt, but before he could reach down to pick them up, the third boy stepped forward and roughly shoved his right shoulder. He lost his balance, falling knees-and-palms-first onto the ground. Intense pain jolted through his nerves as the rough gravel scraped and cut into his sensitive skin.

Unable to contain them, tears began to stream down his cheeks; a few uncontrollable sobs escaped his lips.

"Loser," one of the boys said, and the three of them burst into laughter.

"_Hey_!" a girl's voice shrieked.

The boys turned their attention to the source of the voice. His tears blurring his vision, Khoury peered up. A girl with brown hair in pigtails and large, brown eyes marched toward the scene, her innocent facial features twisted into a scowl. He recognized her from his kindergarten class, but he couldn't recall her name.

"Leave that boy alone!" The girl came to a halt in front of the boys, glaring up at them. Despite the fact that she was much smaller than them, her strong composure didn't break. "What did he ever do to you?!"

"Get lost. This is none of your―"

He was cut off when she stomped on his foot. He cried out in agony, lifting his leg to clutch his aching appendage in his hand. The younger girl grabbed a handful of his orange t-shirt in her fist, pulling his face closer to hers.

"_You_ get lost," the girl retorted, her brown eyes glaring darkly into his terrified green ones. "And if you're gonna bully someone, it is gonna be my business."

Recovering from the pain in his foot, the boy nodded; satisfied, she released her grip on his shirt. He and his two friends then walked away, one of them muttering, "That girl's _scary_..."

The girl heaved a deep sigh, turning to her crying classmate on the ground. Khoury's gaze was fixed on the ground beneath him, waterfalls still streaming down his face and dripping onto the dirt. He had his wire-rimmed glasses pushed up as he wiped his wet eyes with his fingers. She approached him, crouching down and quickly gathering together his books and papers into a neat stack. Surprised, he looked up at her.

"Please stop crying," she said, her soft, brown eyes meeting his dark brown ones.

He wondered if this girl before him now was a different person than the one who had chased off the older boys. This girl spoke to him a kind, gentle voice, and her face was innocent and angelic. He couldn't wrap his brain around it, but he knew that this was the same five-year-old girl with pigtails that was scowling, shouting, and causing another child pain just a few moments ago.

"Those boys were picking on you again because you like to read and do homework at recess, weren't they?"

Khoury nodded, lowering his head again to hide his tears. His mouth released another involuntary sob.

With a warm smile, she reached forward and wiped away the river that still trickled down his cheek. "Don't let them get to you. If you like to read and do homework instead of play at recess, then do it! There's nothing wrong with being yourself!"

Her kinds words warmed his heart, but his tears wouldn't stop. His brain could only focus on the pain in his hands and knees from falling. Pulling his hands away from his face, he slowly opened them to examine his palms. They were covered with scratches that oozed small drops of blood; the sight of the red fluid caused the five-year-old's tears to return.

The girl sighed, her expression shifting to a look of annoyance. "Come on... stop crying. Show me a smile!"

The dark-green-haired boy continued to weep.

"Come on, _smile_! Here, let me help you." She grabbed the corners of his mouth, roughly pinching his cheeks as she stretched his facial features into a forced, unnatural smile.

Khoury stared at her with confused, dark brown eyes for a few seconds before she burst into a fit of laughter, releasing his face.

"You have a really goofy face!" she said as her giggling began to die down.

"Um... okay," he muttered, unsure of how to respond. Wiping away the last of his tears, he smiled slightly at her odd behavior.

The girl jabbed a finger at him. "There you go! A smile! Now, keep it like that."

He chuckled. "O-okay..."

"I _like_ seeing you smile." In one quick motion, she jumped to her feet. After dusting off her black uniform dress, she extended her hand to him. "Let's be friends! My name is Lyra!"

He took her hand, and she jerked him to his feet. "I-I'm Khoury."

Lyra grinned, using her free hand to playfully ruffle his curly, dark green hair. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Curly!"

"It's Khoury..."

"Well, I like _Curly_ better."

_**The End**_

* * *

**A/N: I always had this headcanon that this is how Khoury and Lyra had met. I kind of planned a story that followed Khoury and Lyra's adventures in Johto after they returned from Sinnoh, and I wanted to incorporate this scene into the plot. Basically, I imagined Khoury struggling with wanting to be stronger so he can protect Lyra like she does for him (such as in this oneshot); this event from their childhood is one thing that motivates him to work toward this goal, because he has admired Lyra's confidence ever since the moment they met. However, I've given up on trying to plot a story like this for two reasons: I already have one long-term story in progress and don't want to make my updates any slower, and the story would basically be a generic journey fic that follows the games. :/**

**I have _a lot _of scenarios about Lyra, Khoury, Jimmy, Marina, and Vincent as children. I just love imagining them as a group of friends and how they met each other~ I might write some of them as oneshots in the future. ^.^**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed the story, even though it's really rushed and cliche. Thank you for reading! :D**

**~Hayley**

**_Note: Please refer to the notice on my profile before reviewing._**


End file.
